


Relative Movement

by scy



Category: Star Trek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-01
Updated: 2010-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-05 14:09:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scy/pseuds/scy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone foresaw such complications</p>
            </blockquote>





	Relative Movement

**Author's Note:**

> monimala and missbreese audienced and approved, svilleficrecs brought up several compelling points, and onefishjyuufish did beta duty. Sequel

Jim swiped his hand over the console next to Uhura's door and barely took the time to smile when it accepted his bio-signature and granted him entrance. He strode inside and threw his hands in the air. "I don't know what I'm doing."

Spock and Uhura were sitting on the couch reading, while she lay sideways with her feet resting on his lap. They both glanced up at Jim without showing any surprise at his abrupt entrance.

"That must be a distressingly novel experience," Spock said, and Jim glared.

Uhura smiled and stretched out further. "What's wrong, James?"

"They're asking me to second guess myself."

"Who is?"

"The Review Board has ordered me to submit an official report. I've got to review what happened with Nero and whether I should have taken done things differently. As if there was any time to come up with a better strategy."

"Every captain is held accountable for their actions," Spock said.

"I know that, but these starched bureaucrats haven't been on the bridge of a starship for decade and they're lecturing me on protocol."

"You're right, that is laughable," Uhura said.

Jim raked his fingers through his hair. "They also brought up my tendency to be a little hotheaded."

"Oh?" Uhura asked, and that innocent tone was anything but.

"I am sorry about getting you guys into that fight with me," Jim said.

"The gesture was misguided, but your intent was to defend against an outside threat." Spock reflected on the incident. "You count myself and Nyota as your people."

"Well, even if it wasn't for very long, you were all members of my crew," Jim said. "I guess some things stick."

"Curious, to develop an emotional attachment so quickly."

"Could have been love at first sight," Jim said, and then blushed. "I didn't mean-" He was at a loss and looked away from Spock and Uhura until the embarrassment passed. When he turned back, they were having a silent conversation, and Uhura's mouth twitched as Spock raised an eyebrow.

"Very well," Spock said, and took a breath when a Human would have rolled their eyes.

"What?" Jim asked.

"We're intervening," Uhura said and Jim shook his head.

"Okay?" Jim imagined all the ways that they might help him and most of them did not lead to him being naked and having a good time.

"Sit down, your pacing is an expenditure of energy that, given the stress you are under, you can ill afford to lose."

"Thank you, Commander, but I think that I can multi task without passing out."

"Not if you suddenly trip, hit your head and lose consciousness," Uhura said, and Jim thought she sounded rather threatening.

"How would I do that?"

"Accidents happen, and we'd have to get a doctor to look at you."

Jim hated medical exams. "Bones wouldn't help you."

"If it kept you from driving him insane, he would."

That was true, and Jim groaned. He surveyed the couch, flopped down on the floor in front of it and leaned back so he could feel Uhura's legs behind him. "Is that better?"

"It is an improvement."

After what seemed like an hour of silence, he was bored. "I don't see the point of this," Jim said and Uhura let out a small laugh.

"Just try not to move for more than six minutes, don't you ever do that?"

"There's too much to get done."

"Exhausting yourself needlessly will serve no purpose," Spock said.

"I know how to handle stress." Jim tapped fingers against the floor carelessly.

"Obviously."

Feeling like he was being made fun of, although no court in the universe would have sided with him, Jim sat up and Uhura put a hand on his shoulder. "Relax." He did as she ordered and turned so that he could watch the two of them.

Uhura returned to her reading, and Spock did the same until Uhura flexed her toes and rubbed one foot against his leg. Without commenting, he put his PADD down and lifted one of her feet and began massaging it. As his fingers worked languidly against her skin, Uhura hummed softly, but otherwise made no comment.

Jim watched this interplay in astonishment and reflected that Spock didn't seem to have difficulty with being touched by Uhura. This contradicted the guidelines for Interspecies Interaction, which stipulated that contact with Vulcans was discouraged, if not forbidden unless invited to, or the situation demanded it.

That left Jim with the fact that he had seen Uhura and Spock kissing with what he would say was passion on both their parts, and Spock hadn't objected at all to Uhura's advances. Although she didn't touch him as if she was handling a dangerous being, she didn't take the same liberties that many people did with their significant others, not that Jim could imagine them falling all over each other. In spite of this display, Jim had a hard time trying not to align his imagination with what little contact he'd had with Vulcans.

When the older Spock had given him memories, he had put his fingers on Jim's face as though he had done it often and had that right. Whether Uhura and Spock did the same wasn't a question Jim felt was entirely polite to ask. He guessed, for a race that could share thoughts, that doing so was an intimate act.

For Jim, having someone in his mind had been uncomfortable, and he hadn't known how to hold onto any of his secrets, or if it was even possible. Spock had many reasons to preserve his privacy, and yet Jim wanted to know if they would ever do the same thing. Short of mouthing off until Spock became upset, Jim didn't know of another way to be sure of the Vulcan's feelings, which he knew existed and were so well controlled that it appeared he was without emotion beyond a tolerance for Human idiosyncrasies.

"You two look good together," Jim said.

Uhura glanced at him. "Thank you."

"It's got to have occurred to even you, Spock."

"Nyota's features are easy to dwell on."

"And her name?" Jim said, and ignored the way Uhura was shaking her head at him.

"What of it?"

"Is it like a drop of water?" Jim asked, and Spock was still for half a second.

Jim motioned to the painting on the wall. "She said that you gave that to her."

"In actuality, it was I that made it for her," Spock said.

"It's beautiful."

"The technique has been preserved through many generations, now it, like Vulcans themselves are in danger of becoming only a memory."

"You don't really think that's what's going to happen."

"The remainder of the Vulcan High Council has a great deal to accomplish within a small span of time," Spock said, and his understatement was somehow worse than if he had raised his voice.

Uhura reached out again, and reached out to take Spock's hand. She stroked the back of it. "I know, and I am so sorry, Spock." Pressing her mouth to his palm, she then spoke softly in Vulcan, and Spock inclined his head.

"Perhaps they will learn from this."

"The Federation will help in any way they can," Jim said. He had heard that the Vulcans were establishing at least one new colony, and that all Vulcans had been tasked to assist in the rebuilding of their world. As the prospective captain of a starship, Jim had been asked to submit a recommendation for a command crew, and he might believe that Spock could do great things on board the Enterprise, but his people needed him too. The choice was one that Jim didn't envy Spock, but hoped that he would decide to stay in Starfleet.

"I doubt much of the aide will be accepted, there has not been such an event since the ancient wars of my people. Then, when Vulcans fought Romulans, both sides came to know the cost of war and they withdrew from the doings of the galaxy for a time."

"That would be a shame."

"Vulcan representatives will likely remain in their posts but those who have survived will put their attention on the reconstruction of Vulcan."

"I know, I just hope that not all of them leave the Federation," Jim said and Spock acknowledged the question he hadn't quite asked.

"I have not made a decision about my own path."

"I'm sure that whatever you decide will be the right thing to do," Jim said and then laid his head on a cushion and closed his eyes.

"Are you tired?" Uhura asked.

"Yeah, but I'm not ready to go to sleep. What are you reading?"

"It's an article on the use of the ablative and dative cases in Romulan." She sniffed.

"What's the matter?"

"The author has made several broad assumptions based on a paucity of data and consequently the validity of his research is somewhat doubtful," Spock said.

"If it's wrong, then why are you still reading it?"

"I'm composing an alternate theory," Uhura said.

"You're going to show him up?"

"I wouldn't say that."

"Then, you're going to rip his arguments apart and shame him into doing a better job."

"Yes."

Jim laughed. "You're going to kick his ass. Right, Spock?"

"Put indelicately, but accurately."

"Go on, what's your thesis?"

"Well, as you know, the ablative case can be used when one is talking about one's distance from something, you are leaving a place or when comparing two nouns. The dative case is employed in a noun phrases where there is an indirect object."

"All right."

"This researcher, and I use the term loosely, suggests that in Romulan, the ablative and dative cases are in fact nearly always genitive, simply because the genitive is the most common case and therefore, by default, the others should fall into the same category."

"Given the nature of Romulans, it doesn't seem like they would avoid an opportunity to use the accusative," Jim said.

"Exactly. Based on cultural and linguistic values, it's possible to make assumptions, but without a point of reference, this doesn't make any sense."

"It sounds like you've got this under control."

"I'm going to include examples of other cases as well, and that should reinforce my position."

"You're really ticked at this guy."

"Incompetence is dangerous, and unthinking acceptance of unsupported conclusions is even more so." Spock said.

"You're contributing to this paper, aren't you?"

"I may offer my opinion."

"I almost feel sorry for this guy," Jim said and got a grin from Uhura and what Jim was beginning to interpret as the Vulcan's infinitesimal equivalent of a smile. "Okay, you two like to educate idiots in your spare time, what else do you consider fun?"

"Are you taking a survey?" Uhura asked.

"I'm making conversation."

"You are somehow incapable of silence."

"Guilty, now what else do you two do when you want to have a good time. Besides things that I'm not asking about."

"Even though you want to," Uhura said.

"Hey, I'm a guy, I can't help it."

"I've noticed." Uhura laid the PADD down next to her. "I belong to the Chorale Ensemble."

"And you're good."

"I'm the Vice President."

"Better than good. Spock?"

"I have numerous diversions."

"I'm not asking you to tell me everything, just tell me something you find diverting."

"Chess is an acceptable leisure activity."

"I've heard you're something of a legend around the Academy," Jim said.

"Do you play?"

"I do. We should have a match sometime."

"Should the opportunity arise," Spock said.

"I'll see to it that it does."

"If I may ask, what is your goal in learning of our interests?"

"It's a way of finding areas of overlap."

"In general, but why do you want to know, James."

"I want to know what you like," Jim said and held his breath. He hadn't meant it to come out so raw, but there it was between them and Jim didn't want to take it back. This was what he'd been building up to over the last weeks and knowing that they were willing to tolerate him in their own way had made it easier for that honesty to slip out.

"Should I back off?"

"Truthfulness is not a quality to be avoided."

"Anyway, James, I don't believe you actually know how to keep quiet when you have something on your mind."

"I appreciate your candor," Jim said and eased away from the couch. "I'm just going to head back to my quarters."

"Only if you are fatigued," Spock said.

"Look, I wasn't trying to upset you." Jim felt like he had been stripped down to his bare skin, and was ready to make a joke out of it if that would dispel the tension.

"You have shown a determination toward disrupting stability that is unmistakable."

"We know it when we see it," Uhura said. "At the moment the only one upset is you and you're wound up again."

"Such a cycle of emotion would explain your current sate."

"Excuse me?"

"James, either get over it or go home, otherwise you're just being indecisive."

Jim was taken back by Uhura's firmness and by Spock wordlessly agreeing with her. They were practically mirroring each other as they waited for him to decide what he would do next, and under their unwavering stares, he found himself settling down again.

"You're not freaked out?"

"If you didn't have a deeper regard for Nyota, I would postulate that you were at a loss for alternate distractions."

"You're included in that regard, Spock," Jim said.

"That is inexplicable, as you derive the greatest pleasure from harassing me."

"It's the front you put up, Spock, it makes me want to shake you up."

"A peculiar goal as most do not appreciate the consequences of such actions."

"I didn't mind, really. How much hand-to-hand training have you had?"

"An adequate amount."

"You want to spar sometime?"

"Perhaps."

"With that Vulcan strength, you've got an advantage, but I'm not so easy when I'm not surprised."

"Reality does not often allow for one to be prepared for combat."

Uhura nudged Jim. "Is this one of those inevitable male bonding rituals?"

"It'll be fun."

"If you prefer violence to intellectual discourse."

"Come on, Spock, I know you're smart, but I want to see what else you've got."

"I'm going to watch," Uhura said and grinned.

"I think we can keep from hurting each other."

"Oh, that's not why."

Jim eyed them with suspicion. "Are you planning to pull a trick on me?"

"No," Spock said.

"Then let's try it now."

"Not in here," Uhura said.

"Why not?" Jim got up and pushed the table out of the way, clearing a space in front of the couch. "We've got enough room for a few moves, so go on, Spock, show me what you've got."

"You are already familiar with my abilities."

"Yeah, but that was you being really pissed off at me, there wasn't much technique that I could see." When that didn't faze Spock, Jim smirked. "There was no elegance in it, and I thought Vulcans considered that important in all things."

Spock's eyebrows drew together. "You seek to stimulate a conflict."

"Yes. How am I doing?"

"I am unmoved."

"Do all Vulcans try to ignore Humans until it's just easier to smack them around?"

"There is no logic in a contest of physical prowess when I clearly have the upper hand."

"I want to see what you can do." Jim remembered the way Spock had lifted him up effortlessly and then held him down with one hand. "Indulge me."

Uhura hopped up. "I'll move the breakables."

"You wish to go along with this farce?"

Spock and Uhura shared a silent look that Jim somehow knew was loud with things that they were saying to one another, and Spock seemed to be arrested by a suggestion Uhura had made. "Only if that would please you," he said.

Jim tried to follow their conversation and went with needling Spock as a way of gathering information. "Wait, are you afraid I might get the better of you? In front of your girlfriend?"

"That is not a concern."

"Then let's do this."

Spock shook his head but rose to his feet. "If it will resolve this issue."

Uhura grabbed Jim's arm and said in his ear, "I'll let you do this, James, but do not try and make me a prize."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"I know better," Uhura said. "Go ahead, you'll feel better once you get yourself beat up a little."

"Hey. Wait, what?"

She smiled and stepped back, taking a seat on a chair out of the way. "Have fun."

"What did she mean by that?" Jim asked, rolling his shoulders to loosen up.

"Your tendency to seek out dangerous situations may have a deeper psychological meaning."

"Do you ever shut up?"

"Have you considered the possible implications?"

"Not that much."

"Unsurprising," Spock said and dodged Jim's first combination of strikes.

"Are you going to do anything?"

Spock tilted his head as Jim moved around him, and seemed to be waiting. "At the appropriate moment."

"Do Vulcans even consider anything that isn't completely aboveboard?" Jim asked, and swiped at Spock's legs, trying to bring him down, but the Vulcan grabbed Jim by the belt and brought him to the floor.

"When it is warranted." Spock had Jim on his back and held him there without straining even though Jim was trying to wriggle free. ・You will harm yourself if you do not concede defeat."

"A little pain doesn't bother me."

Uhura came to stand next to Spock. "It's more than that."

Jim arched upwards, trying to dislodge Spock's fingers, but they tightened until his vision flickered for a second and he gasped, struggling to breathe. "I get it, you're stronger than me."

"That is not the lesson."

Spock's legs were touching Jim's, and even through their clothes, he could feel their heat, just as the hand on his throat was unexpectedly warm. The difference gave Jim pause while he turned the question over and tried to discern Spock's meaning.

"Are you going to tell me what I'm supposed to learn from this?"

"Other than how unwise it is to dare a Vulcan to fight with you?" Uhura said.

"I already knew that."

"It didn't prevent you from seeking this out."

"I thought it would be fun."

Arching one eyebrow, Spock leaned closer to Jim. "It may indeed prove beneficial."

"How?"

"You find this sort of contact arousing."

Jim wouldn't admit as much, but Spock shook his head and didn't hesitate to speak his mind.

"When I exerted pressure on your larynx, your heart rate increased significantly, as did your respirations." Spock's lips parted and he inhaled audibly. "There has also been a noticeable shift in your scent."

Jim was having trouble focusing, and found himself fixing on Spock's eyes to keep himself grounded. "Has there?"

Uhura crouched beside Jim and put a hand on his cheek.

"James, what do you want?"

"I already told you."

"I can tell that you're not being straightforward, and I don't have Vulcan senses."

It was hard for him to shrug, pinned as he was under Spock, but Jim gave it a try.

"You're wrong."

Uhura and Spock moved so that he was sitting by Jim's shoulders, and she was over his body, coming to rest on his legs. Spock kept his hand on Jim's throat so that when Uhura laid a hand on Jim's chest and he instinctively reached for her, the resulting pressure from Spock made him subside.

"Settle," Spock said, and Jim obeyed.

"Let me touch you," Jim said, and Uhura shook her head.

"You don't get it, that's not what this is about." She ran a hand down to his waist and completely avoided his groin, going to his thigh and digging her nails in. "You can't get whatever you want just because you're James Kirk."

"Who says?"

"Confidence is an asset, being convinced you cannot fail will inevitably lead to tragedy,・ Spock said. ・You must accustom yourself to this fact and rise above it."

"This is because you don't like it that I'm in charge."

"Are you?" Uhura asked and rested her weight on Jim's legs. "Can you make us do what you want?"

"I could order you to get off me," Jim said.

"Then you wouldn't be happy."

"You're going to hurt me?"

"Only if that's what you need," Uhura said.

"What happened? I came here to talk to you guys, and all of a sudden he's doing the Vulcan death grip on me and you're groping me."

"You are far too verbose," Spock said, and exerted greater pressure on Jim's throat, keeping him from speaking or taking more than shallow gasps of air. Even though he kept staring up at Spock, it became harder to see him as his vision blurred. At the same time, Uhura's hands slid upwards , brought Jim's hands to his sides and grabbed on. He couldn't do more than hold on loosely, but Uhura picked up on the hint and squeezed tightly.

"It's all right, you can't go anywhere, we won't let you."

Jim bucked and twisted, trying to get loose, and then when he realized he was trapped, his struggles took on another rhythm. The world was Spock's hand and Uhura's voice, perfectly in sync with the other and all Jim's uncertainty left him with his climax.

"Very good," Spock said, and Jim blacked out.

He didn't know how long it was afterwards that he opened his eyes, but with difficulty, Jim rolled onto his side, curling inwards. A hand went to his throat as he coughed and tried to process what had happened. His eyes watered and he could only feel when Uhura and Spock slid away from him, but made a sound that he didn't know how to interpret, but Uhura did, and laid her hand on his shoulder and stroked firmly.

"You did very well, James, come back now."

Spock's hand had left Jim's throat, but as it had withdrawn, his fingertips had come very close to Jim's face and his flinch was unmistakable. It had caught Spock's attention, and now he kept his hands to himself, but doubted that his reaction would escape speculation.

"James, can you talk?" Uhura asked.

With a last shake of his head, Jim pushed himself upright and grinned. "Whoa, that was incredible."

"Then you found it to your liking," Spock said.

"I think you know just how much I liked it."

"You need to say it."

"I did. I do." Jim stared at them, and rubbed his throat, flashes of it coming back to him, how their touch and voice had been all that he had been able to connect with and how precisely they had taken him apart, as if he had instructions written all over his body that they had translated effortlessly. It terrified him, and he wanted it all over again.


End file.
